I-League player Akram Moghrabi in Lebanese fixing scandal

Of the 24 players implicated, Akram Moghrabi, who had signed for the Goans last July on a one-year deal, is one of them.

New Delhi: A Lebanese footballer, playing till very recently for I-League club Churchill Brothers, has been implicated in the match-fixing scandal that has rocked the west Asian nation, and the Lebanese FA has informed the AIFF about sanctions imposed on the footballer.

Of the 24 players implicated, Akram Moghrabi, who had signed for the Goans last July on a one-year deal, is one of them. The player, though, is not part of the Churchill Brothers squad any more as he left earlier this month citing personal reasons. Moghrabi had scored 8 times in 18 matches this season.

"The Lebanese Football Association has informed the Member Associations of India, Malaysia and Indonesia of sanctions on Lebanese players plying their trade in these countries," the AFC said in a statement.

The Asian Football Confederation is to investigate a report on match-fixing in Lebanon after 24 players were handed suspensions ranging from three seasons to life for allegedly fixing international and club matches. As per Article 140 of the AFC Disciplinary Code "a sanction imposed by a Member Association has the same effect in each Member Association of AFC as if the sanction had been imposed by any one of them".

Among those to be sanctioned by the Lebanese Football Association were national team players Mahmoud al-Ali (Persiba Balipapan, Indonesia) and Ramez Dayoub ((Selangor, Malaysia) who have been banned for life.

"AFC has received the summary report from the Lebanese Football Association on their investigations and subsequent action against involvement of Lebanese players in match-fixing."

The AFC said it is not aware if the matches fixed include any of Lebanon's 2014 World Cup qualifying games.

"AFC has no knowledge on any suspicion surrounding Lebanon's any of the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches. AFC has also set up an internal task force to educate the Member Associations on ways and measures to combat this menace and monitor and coordinate with everyone involved to fight match-fixing in AFC competitions," it further said.